Form Factor

What’s wrong with a Passive House?

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Forensic air test of a very low energy home almost Passivhaus

Why aren’t passive houses (AKA Passivhaus) mainstream? Why isn’t every new home built in the UK produced to the design specifications of passive houses? Here I’ll go through what’s bad about passive houses, whether it’s true, and what might be done to fix the problems. 1) Passive Houses are boxy and ugly Passive houses are … Read more

How to work out the Passive House Form Factor

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Complicated form of a UK home dormer will require more insulation as proportion of external area to floor area increases

The Passive House Form Factor quantifies the relationship between the living area of the building and the total amount of surface area that heat can escape from. The calculation is simple: Total heat loss area ÷ floor area = Form Factor The Form Factor of a building is key in low energy design because it … Read more